Basement housing..

[Kathy]

Years ago, a lot of young couples built their basement first and lived in it until they could afford to build the actual house.

Why would you need to build the house? I mean if the basement is dry, has all of the living amenities one wants and is secure-what other needs would there be?

I was thinking of a basement that rose out of the ground by maybe 3' so there'd be room for windows both for air flow and emergency evacuation.

Would that 3' rise out of the ground still make a basement house a safe shelter during tornado? Wouldn't that be an energy efficient way to keep heating & cooling costs at a minimum?

What type of roof would one put on a basement house?


So many ideas and questions running around in my head!

[momo]

We built this house like that. We built the basement first with a flat temporary roof. The basement had a small bath with just a shower, toilet & sink. The kitchen had a sink, hot plate, mini fridge and microwave. We had a bed in the big open area. It worked out well for us as we were paying for the house as we went. We had to stop a few times when we ran short of money. We didn't want to get a bank loan which requires you to hire a contractor and usually finish within 6 months. We saved alot of money by doing it ourselves and being able to live onsite. It was better than camping but no no means fancy. Dh wanted a basement anyway instead of a crawlspace, so it didn't cost us extra money to do it. It is very cheap storage or can be finished for more living area if desired. Only one side is open. The other sides are underground,so it is also good protection for bad weather.

[Deleted]

momo said:

Only one side is open. The other sides are underground,so it is also good protection for bad weather.

Kathy, you might need to build a hill if you want a walk-out basement!

You could be the county landmark: "Head toward The Hill, then take the first left."

/VM

[Kathy]

I had a similar thought! ;D You know the land is flat when you can see a thunderstorm off in the distance and it takes 4-5 hrs to arrive!